Precision machinery and instruments are thrown in the dumpsters at Industrial Parks in your city every day.   Industrial Dumpster Diving can be anything from life threatening to a Performing Art !

Stealing trash is not a crime in most places, find out before you get yourself into trouble. 

 Example:  Subject  1982 Kodak Laser Drum Recorder orig cost $170,000.  Value today  $-200.00 (the cost to haul it away).  Components recoverable:
1. HeCd Laser  15 mW 440nM with 110VAC Power Supply
2. precision flanges, bearings, bearing mounts, machined rails/ tubes
3. 2 Servo Drives with Motors and mounting brackets (1/2 HP and 1/8 HP)
4. 2 Optoencoders with bellows (8192 pulses/ rev.)
5. various connectors, power supplies, cabling
6. about 8 square feet of Black Anodized Aluminum Sheet 1/16" thick
7. A 500 lb. Optical Bench on Wheels, Aluminum Base, Steel Framed.  2.5 x 5.5 ft top surface

Basic Machine Types and Industry which tosses them:

1. Graphic Arts:   Scanners and ImageSetters by Crosfield, AGFA, DS (SCREEN), Linotype-Hell, Kodak, Varityper ,  and SCITEX.
2. Medical:  MRI, CAT and PET Scanners by GE, Siemens, Picker, Toshiba-- avoid XRay surplus.
3. Office/Business:  Big Copiers  from XEROX, Cannon, FAXes, Computers etc...
4. Defense:  Let your imagination run wild, but you usually have to buy this stuff for Pennies/$$$.  Dumpster Diving here is an NSA issue and can get you shot, I do not recommend it.
5. Old Aircraft:  A visitor to this WebSite assures me that there are lots of raw materials and precision mechanical assemblies to be had in airplane scrapyards.